2 Responses to Why Not (Age) Oolong? [Inbetweenisode 167]

Great discussion about aging oolong, I think Garrett is on point about the fact that branding has a significant impact on Western ideas around product, possession and ownership which influences consumer preferences and behaviours. Often I find there is a niche of oolong collectors that have bought into the whole oolong roasting with expensive set-ups, however as James clearly stated in the West we have the climatic advantage and such set-ups are not nearly as needed as much as hot humid Taiwan or mainland China, where drying and re-roasting is required.

Personally I think oolong teas are great category of teas to experiment with storage, without the tears of Puerh. Whilst it is nice to have access to a tea roaster if you are going to get into aging oolong in a big way (Taiwan Sourcing sell a reasonably priced one) it is not an essential piece of kit if you take James and Garrett’s advice on keeping the air out.
Trying out different storage vessels is always a nice way of getting something out of oolong storage. I have a batch split between being stored in an un-treated cherry wood vessel and clay.